Rita Catherine Corcoran

Rita Catherine Corcoran was born in Lindsay, Texas, on November 5, 1932, the eighth child of Clem and Amelia Hermes.

She graduated from Lindsay High School and went to work for Southwestern Bell as one of the classic “operators” when making phone calls. She married Harold Corcoran on April 27, 1955. Immediately thereafter, the newlyweds moved to Farmington, New Mexico and then Wilburton, Oklahoma where Harold worked on the oil fields for Halliburton. Eventually they returned to the Corcoran farm in Gainesville where they embraced the life of farming. In her younger days she enjoyed playing volleyball, growing vegetables, canning and freezing them, sewing clothing for her 6 children, and making quilts which she gave away or donated to the church. She looked forward to the spring when she could plant her flowers and vegetables, watch the grains ripen and harvested, and then waited for the fall when she could gather pecans and share them with her family and friends. She loved all of extended family including her nieces and nephews and grew very close to them as many affectionately referred to her as Aunt Dolly! Rita was a devout member of St Mary's Catholic Church and helped support their church and school in many ways. All of her children embraced a piece of her love for her lifestyle and to this day continue to can fruits and vegetables, quilt and sew, work the fields and flowerbeds, and care for those in need of help.

She was preceded in death by her parents Clem and Amelia Hermes, Her sisters Mary Hundt, Louis Schad, Elfreda Hundt, Anna Hermes, Amelia Voth, Bernice Strittmatter, and brothers Joe Hermes and Clem Hermes. Her husband Harold John Corcoran , grand daughter Kathryn, daughter in law Laurie Corcoran and sisters in law; Doris DeRossett, Vivian Kasparek and Helen Metzler and brother in law Tommy Corcoran.

She is survived by her children Gayle Wilson, husband Don and their children Sarah and Gregory, Patricia Burris, husband Boyd, children Blayde, Brandye, Amanda, and Jacquelyn, Kim Hamilton, husband, Jimmy, children Amber, Brittany, Alex, and Jamie, John Corcoran and wife Rachel and her son David, Emily Lewis, husband Gary Dale, children Sam, Chloe, and Clair, and Bryan Corcoran, as well as her brother Gilbert Hermes, and sister Angela Haverkamp, sisters in law Charlotte Zwinggi, and Linda Brown and husband Tom and her brother in law Raymond Metzler. She was the beloved aunt, grandmother, and great grandmother to innumerable others.

Rosary and visitation will take place at St. Mary’s Church of Gainesville, Texas on Thursday, June 12, 2025 beginning at 6:00 p.m. Funeral Mass will be held at St. Mary’s Church on Friday, June 13, 2025 at 10:30 a.m. Burial to follow at St. Peter’s Catholic Cemetery in Lindsay, Texas.

Thank you for your support.